Craft Spirits in San Diego: A Growing Market

Buying local is pretty much always a good thing. It supports local economy and is good for the environment. Buying local is even better when the products being purchased are of great quality.

Luckily, in San Diego, local products tend to be just that – quality. This holds true in the case of distilled spirits.

With 11 operating distilleries in San Diego County at the time of publication, this is good news for spirits consumers such as ourselves who live in San Diego. We have the pleasure of having some excellent distilleries at our disposal creating unique and innovative products that are crafted to the utmost quality.

This is sort of what the craft beer scene in San Diego looked like about 20 years ago. There were a very small handful of breweries in the county that were just beginning to make the shift from brewing out of the garage to cutting their teeth in their tiny brewhouses.

That was then.

The “now” paints a picture of 115 breweries at the time of publication. This astronomical growth of breweries is a sign of the demand for quality, craft products in San Diego County.

Beer, of course, is not liquor. They are, however, similar, and liquor even begins its existence as beer.

Regardless of the difference, the beer and spirit market demographics overlap, and with the exponential growth in demand for quality craft spirits, would it be a stretch to tinker with the notion of a new revolution with distilled spirits at the helm this time?

The craft beer revolution is not slowing down, and it’s tough to see this ever being overtaken by spirits, though one never knows. Distilleries, however, are picking up steam, and, just like craft brewers of decades past (and present, for that matter), they are innovating in their markets.

Kill Devil Spirits, whom we wrote about in a previous post, recently released a moonshine that has been distilled solely from cara-vienna malted barley and aged on local coffee beans. Their vodka is distilled to a lower proof than most other vodkas and is unfiltered – techniques that help create and retain more flavor in the finished product.

Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits has a line of interesting products, including a line of vodkas that are infused with jamaica, horchata, and habanero peppers. They also just released their canned mixed drinks, which include Rum & Ginger, Rum & Cola, Gin & Tonic, and Bloody Mary.

In addition to the currently operating distilleries, there are several others in planning stages, which will increase the count even more once they are established. When that day arrives, who knows how many more distilleries will be in planning stages and what the outlook will be for the local spirits market.

One cannot know, nor can one know whether spirits will lead the next craft revolution. Just keep an eye on the market, because it just may creep right up on you.

Find a list of San Diego County-based distilleries below: